


Pause

by TerraXV



Category: Shaman King (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, Manga Spoilers, Morning Sickness, Teenage Pregnancy, do not copy to another site/app
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25329577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraXV/pseuds/TerraXV
Summary: She's known Yoh for over five years now. Until recently, she thought they'd have more time together.But now...now five to six years wasn't nearly enough time.“....this isn’t enough.”| Anna's learning to deal with morning sickness on top of how short time really is.|
Relationships: Asakura Yoh/Kyouyama Anna
Comments: 11
Kudos: 36





	Pause

**Author's Note:**

> Years ago, Shaman King was one of the first fandoms I started writing for and it feels so good to write for my childhood ship again! I'm so excited for anime reboot next year and can't wait to see how it goes!
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading!

“Anna, how long as it been!?”

“Six minutes.” Anna responded without so much as a glance at the stop watch in her hand. Something Yoh called her out on.

“You didn’t even look!”

She glanced down.

“Six minutes and twenty seconds.”

“Urg!” Yoh cried out but didn’t stop holding his stance. “It’s too hot for this!”

“You got this Yoh-Kun!” Manta called out encouragingly. To Anna, he added in a quieter tone, “It really is hotter today. I didn’t think Patch Village could get this hot.”

It was hot. Even Anna was feeling uncomfortable with it.

“Why is he still training when he’s made it this far with that book anyway?”

The answer was obvious to Anna and she assumed it should have been to Manta as well. With how smart he was supposed to be, she wondered if his strong friendship with Yoh just clouded how obvious situations were. His worry for Yoh tended to block out a lot of things, she noticed.

Not that she could hold that against him. It was good that he could clearly show his feelings the way he did.

Ignoring the envious train of thought before it could fully form, she explained, “Just because he’s made it this far doesn’t mean he can slack off. The fights will be getting harder as time goes on. With the weaker competitors being weeded out, he needs to be prepared now more than ever.”

“Ah, that makes sense...” he mumbled. Soon enough, he was lost in his own thoughts as he watch Yoh.

Anna tried to keep her eyes on the timer, waiting for the right time to stop it. It was getting harder and harder though. Watching the seconds tick by made her stomach clenched uncomfortably. With a small sigh, she looked up at Yoh to see him frowning in her direction.

“Yoh, focus.” She said quietly, as though he was as close to her as Manta was.

“Ah, r-right.” Yoh quickly turned away.

“He actually heard that...?” Manta muttered. Anna felt her lips twitch. Yoh’s hearing was actually really good. He just pretended it wasn’t so he could try getting out of situations by claiming he wasn’t paying attention.

Anna was still feeling off but was able to ignore it at first. She pretended the sweat building at the back of her neck was from the scarf tied around it and the increasing heat. With deep slow breaths, she was able to ease her nerves enough to settle the unsteady feeling inside her. She focused on watching her fiancé’s movements and found herself able to relax after a while.

She managed this for another five minutes before a sudden jolt almost made the timer slip from her hand.

“Here.” She stood up quickly, tossing the timer to Manta. He stumbled in catching it, just barely stopping it from hitting the ground.

“An-Anna-San?”

“It’s too hot. Tell Yoh he can stop for the afternoon when he’s done with this set. You don’t need to time him anymore.”

“Seriously? Uh, okay!” Despite how startled he was, Manta didn't question her change in plans for Yoh.

With a deep breath and clenched teeth, she left.

* * *

Anna just made it back in time before she had to rush to the bathroom and threw up everything she had at breakfast.

It was almost routine at this point.

Get sick.

Rinse her mouth out before brushing her teeth.

Get rid of her scarf and beads that felt too stifling.

Lay on the bed and pretend she didn’t feel the room spinning around her.

Despite still being so new to this, it already felt like she had done this her whole life instead of for a few months.

Anna curled up on her side, praying for the nausea to end soon.

She didn’t think it would still be bad at this point. She still felt sick and still wasn’t showing. It made her worry. Faust has said he knew of pregnancies that didn’t become obvious until as late as the end of the seventh month mark, and that it was common that she hasn’t shown yet but she was still worried. Worried she wasn’t showing. Worried if she starts showing before this is all over.

“You’re really gonna give me a hard time, huh...” She murmured as she moved her fingers across her stomach. It was rare that she spoke like and it felt strange whenever she did. Yet it still gave her an odd warmth, knowing there was something there she spoke to. “I can’t tell if that means you already take after me more or him.”

* * *

_When she closes her eyes, sometimes she wonders how their child will look._

_Maybe Yoh's unruly hair style. She wonders if they'll prefer it long or short or somewhere inbetween._

_There was a time when Yoh had said he really liked her eye colour. It would be nice if that carried on._

_And for a name..._

* * *

She must have dozed off at some point. She realized there was someone sitting on the bed next to her. For a brief second she had panicked before realizing she knew this presence.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to change clothes. I got all sweaty from training.” Yoh’s voice was soft. His movements were careful, like he was trying his best not to jostle the bed. “Are you okay? You were looking pale earlier.”

Anna remembered how he had looked at her earlier. She wondered he saw anything that told him something off.

“Morning sickness. I’ll be fine after some rest.”

“Ah, right. That’s, um...part of it...”

Anna turned enough to glance at him. As she suspected from his tone, his face was slowly growing more and more vibrant.

“Yes, Yoh. Morning sickness is part of pregnancy.”

Her fiancé was odd. For all his nonchalance and easy compliments, remembering that she was pregnant with his child made him so flustered.

“I-I knew that!” was the defensive response she got. He got that slight scowl that was rare to come by lately and she huffed out a small laugh. For all that he was maturing, he still had that childish side. She was grateful to know it wasn't disappearing.

Yoh's expression softened when she laughed and leaned a bit closer to her.

“Other than the nausea, you're doing okay?”

“Mm. Just need rest.” She confirmed.

“That's good,” Yoh suddenly ran a hand through his hair with a conflicted look. He was overthinking something so Anna waited. She was suprised when she didn't have to wait for him to speak up as she thought she would. “Hey, Anna?”

“Hm?”

“Can I...lay down with you? For a bit?”

That...was not what she had been expecting. But she wasn't about to turned him away.

“...yeah.”

She remembers back at home and having his arms around her like this before. She remembers the only other time they slept in the same bed before that. She had a too vivid nightmare of Oni's and dark thoughts and twisted hearts and was afraid in the hazy aftermath that things would go back to before.

Anna tries not to think of her past often. She tries not to think about how her life changed because of meeting Yoh and the sacrifice had to make. She tries not to think about how for three years, they only saw each other for a week at New Years and a week during the summer.

She's known Yoh for over five years now. Until recently, she thought they'd have more time together.

But now...now five to six years wasn't nearly enough time.

“....this isn’t enough.”

The hand that had been slowly rubbing her back suddenly paused.“Huh? What do you mean?”

Anna's lips pressed together into a thin line. She hadn't meant for that to slip out. She knew she could just stay silent and get away with it. Yet part of her didn't want to. Not this time.

“When you become Shaman King...” She started. She wondered how she'd say it without sounding ridiculous. “When you win...we’ll only have been together just over five years. That’s...that’s not enough...not nearly enough.”

The hand on her back suddenly felt heavy. She felt how stiff Yoh got from what she said. It was almost like an unspoken agreement between them. Since they found out what exactly happens when a person becomes Shaman King, they talked about it once to make sure they were on the same page and that was it. Since then, they just stepped around it even if they accepted it.

“Yeah.” Yoh's voice was quiet. He pulled her closer and spoke against her hair. “When you put it like that, it feels like everything's gone by pretty fast.”

“Everything seems fast to a lazy guy like you.”

She could feel Yoh shake as he laughed. “Hehe, you're not wrong! Still, kinda wish things would slow down for awhile. Just hang out with everyone without thinking about the fights coming up. Argue with you at New Years again over if Red or White team will win.”

“You always lose anyway.”

“I do not.”

“Do to.”

“Do not.”

With her eyes closed, Anna could pretend they were back in Tokyo. She wanted to be selfish in this moment. To pretend they were alone in the world and could stay here for as long as they wanted. That there was no rush to take in any spare moment they had alone. They weren’t an overly affectionate couple, especially in front of other people. But that just made the moments they had more important.

She was proud of Yoh for making it this far and she knew he would go even further. She believed he could make his dream-both their dreams-come true.

A small quiet part of her just wanted it to slow down. To give her more time with him.

After awhile, she noticed Yoh was playing with her hair.

“Huh. Your hairs getting longer.” He almost sounded awed. “It’s really shiny too. I guess that whole ‘ _glow_ ’ thing is real. That’s another thing that happens, right?”

“Remind me to add baby books to your training.” Anna said flatly. Yoh just laughed in response.

“Hey, I’m still learning like you. I just have fights mixed into it all. I don’t even know how I find my way back here half the time I’m in such a daze at the end of the day...”

“Ridiculous...” she pinched his side, making him jolt.

“Ow! What was that for?” he complained, rubbing the spot. Anna ignored him and started pushing against his chest.

“I'm getting hot. Aren't you supposed to be with your crazy friends right now?”

“Ah, that's right.” Yoh blinked. He sat up and stretched his arms over his head. Anna was slower to sit up, being cautious of any movement that might turn her stomach again. It seems to be fine now but she's learned not to let her guard down just yet. She patted down her hair, fixing whatever Yoh might have messed up. “Should I tell Faust you need him?”

Anna thought about it and nodded.

“Mm. Sure. There’s some stuff I want to ask him about.”

“Okay.” Yoh slipped on his regular pair of sandals and was about to leave before he paused. “Ah, right. There was another reason I came by. I almost forgot...” Yoh went back to his back to dig out something. A moments later, he pulled out his Walkman and removed his headphones as he came back to the bed. “Here. I switched out Bob for Ringo. Maybe some music will help you sleep better.”

oh.

It was rare for Yoh to share his headphones. Anna remembers how they once bickered over her wanting to borrow them when they were twelve. Now he was freely handing them over without her even thinking to ask.

She didn't want to admit it, but it did make her happy remembering back then. “Thanks.”

Anna reached for the headphones but Yoh placed the headphones on her head for her instead and hit play on the Walkman. Soon enough, Anna could hear Awaya Ringo’s voice.

She thought he would leave right after that but was wrong. Yoh seemed to think for a second before leaning forward to kiss her softly. The headphones slipped off from over her ears and ended up around her neck. If her face felt warmer than usual when their foreheads pressed together afterwards, she pretended otherwise.

“Sorry I can’t take your morning sickness away.”

“Don’t apologize for something like that. It’ll be worth it in the end.”

“Yeah,” Yoh grinned. Just how was this the same guy that just got flustered several minutes ago. “Hey, I know you feel bad right now but is there something I should grab for later in case you’re hungry?”

Taking a moment to think about it, she said, “...fries.”

“Wow, you don’t normally like stuff like that!” Yoh looked too amused about it. “Okay, fries it is. I'm sure the Patch have something like that here. I’ll see you later, Anna.”

“Yeah. See you later.”

They didn't know how much time they would have together. They didn't know what the results would be during the Shaman Fight. So she'd enjoy these moments and treasure them as they came.


End file.
